Foreword from King Plates: A History of Aboriginal Gorgets by Jakelin Troy (1993)

This book began as a consultancy undertaken in 1989, by Jakelin Troy, to catalogue the National Museum of Australia's collection of Aboriginal gorgets. Curators at the Museum and the then Director, Kaye Dal Bon, decided that enough information was collected during the consultancy to warrant publishing the catalogue. A manuscript was prepared, in 1990, for publication by the Museum. The book focused on the Museum's collection rather than the broad sweep of all gorgets. However, in 1991, the Museum decided to produce the work as a book with a broader focus than its own collection and to publish with Aboriginal Studies Press. Jakelin Troy was brought back on contract in 1992, under the direction of Dr Luke Taylor, Senior Curator, Gallery of Aboriginal Australia, to produce a final manuscript, in co-ooperation with the editor at Aboriginal Studies Press, Stephanie Haygarth.

The National Museum of Australia and Aboriginal Studies Press produced this book in 1993 as one of the Museum's initiatives for the International Year of the World's Indigenous People. It is hoped that the book will help promote understanding of and further research into Aboriginal history.